圣诞树
　　如果圣诞节没有树，那将会是怎么样的情景？一家人聚在一起，用灯、金属锡箔、串线的爆米花、装饰物来布置圣诞树是件多么好玩的事。真是个有趣的传统习俗啊！但这个习俗是怎么来的？又代表什么意义呢？其实，圣诞树是常青稙物，这就给我们一个很好的提示。常青稙物特别之处，乃在于它们不像其它树种一样会掉叶子，无论气候寒冷、炎热，树上叶子永远保持绿油油的。因此圣诞树本身成为生命和永恒的象征，提醒人们冬天终将离去，生命又将新起，而且充满朝气，生气勃勃。这是多美好的方式来提醒人们希望和信心的存在！
　
　　下面是圣诞树的来源介绍：
　　Religious plays acted out during Advent in the Middle Ages included a fir tree decorated with apples. One legend gives credit to eighth-century missionary St. Boniface, who found German pagans preparing a human sacrifice before an oak tree. Boniface cut down the oak and a small fir was found in its remains. He then told the pagans, who converted to Christianity, that the evergreen symbolized their new faith and Christ's birth, according to the book ''Encyclopedia of Christmas.'' Another legend says Martin Luther was moved when he saw stars shining through fir trees on an evening walk. He cut down a small tree, took it home and decorated it with candles.

　　German-born Prince Albert, consort of England's Queen Victoria, is credited with popularizing the custom in England in the 1840s. ''Encyclopedia of Christmas'' says trees grew in popularity in America about the same time. Early trees, small ones placed on tables, were adorned with fruit, cookies, nuts, paper decorations and lighted candles. The first ready-made electric Christmas lights appeared in 1903. Unwrapped gifts were once placed on trees, but as gifts grew heavier and decorations more ornate, gifts moved under the tree.

　　　　　　　　　　小游戏:装饰圣诞树

接下来了解一下美国人怎样买圣诞树